John F. Kennedy Air Force One bomber jacket sells for $570,000

An Air Force One leather bomber jacket that had been worn by President John F. Kennedy sold for $570,000 at auction in Amesbury Sunday, a spokeswoman for John McInnis Auctioneers said.

The family of a former special assistant to President John F. Kennedy auctioned hundreds of photographs, documents, gifts and other memorabilia that once belonged to the late president.

David Powers, who died in 1998, was a close personal friend to Kennedy and his wife, Jackie. He was also the first curator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston until he retired in 1994.

Powers' family found "an extraordinary collection" of memorabilia locked away last year as they prepared to sell the family home, according to McInnis Auctioneers.

Powers, who joined Kennedy for his first political campaign for Congress in 1946 and was with him when he was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, collected keepsakes and documents spanning years of friendship with the Kennedy family.

The collection also included photos of the baptism of his only surviving child, Caroline Kennedy; pictures of JFK's birthday party taken in December 1963; and a birthday card that the president sent to his father a few months before he was assassinated. Other items included letters, documents and gifts to and from the family.

An American flag that flew during the Kennedy administration sold for $21,000.

Before the auction, The JFK Library, which is charged with promoting the life and legacy of Kennedy, said it was trying to figure out whether some of the items belong to the institution.

The pre-auction estimate for the bomber jacket was just $20,000 to $40,000. There was no immediate word on the name of the winning bidder.

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